WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis University women's volleyball will hit the road to Richmond, K.Y. to take on the Colonel Challenge, hosted by Eastern Kentucky.
>> The Red Flash will face Eastern Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 9 at 12:30 p.m. and Eastern Illinois at 3:00 p.m. and return to McBrayer Arena on Saturday, Sept. 10 to take on Purdue Fort Wayne at 11:00 a.m.
>>The match against Eastern Kentucky can be streamed live on
ESPN+ while every other match can be followed with
Live Stats.
THE WORD ON EASTERN KENTUCKY
The Colonels are 5-1 overall this season for their best start since 2014. Most recently, Eastern Kentucky won the Wofford Invitational where the team defeated Wofford in four sets, Upstate South Carolina in five sets and Appalachian State in straight sets.
Molly Michalek leads Eastern Kentucky with 67 kills, while Chloe Mason leads the Colonels with 123 assists and 12 service aces on the season.
LAST TIME WE MET EASTERN KENTUCKY
The Red Flash and Colonels last faced one another in 2019 when the Colonels defeated Saint Francis in straight sets. The Red Flash are 0-3 overall against the Colonels.
THE WORD ON EASTERN ILLINOIS
The Panthers of Eastern Illinois are 2-5 overall this season. Both of the team's wins this season came at the Butler Top Dawg Tournament over Akron in straight sets and Oakland in five sets.
Most recently, the Panthers took a straight set loss at home to Western Illinois in straight sets.
Giovana Larregui Lopez leads the Panthers with 91 kills and eight service aces on the 2022 season. Christina Martinez Mundo and Ireland Hieb lead the way defensively with 130 digs and 14 blocks, respectively.
LAST TIME WE MET EASTERN ILLINOIS
The Red Flash are 0-2 against the Panthers with the last meeting between the two programs coming in 2018 when Eastern Illinois took the match in straight sets.
THE WORD ON PURDUE FORT WAYNE
The Mastodons are 3-3 this season. Most recently, the team went 1-2 at the Xavier Tournament with gaining a 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan but falling to Virginia and Xavier in three sets. Despite the team's loss to Xavier, Rachael Crucis finished the match with 19 digs and no reception errors. Crucis leads the Mastodons with 103 digs and six service aces on the season. While Sidney Schiller leads Purdue Fort Wayne in kills with 74.
LAST TIME WE MET PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Saturday's match marks the first time the Mastodons and Red Flash have ever faced each other.
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis women's volleyball is 1-6 on the season. The Red Flash most recently claimed its first win of the season over the Dukes on Duquense on Tuesday in five sets.
Freshman
Korrin Burns led the Red Flash with 24 kills, which was the first time a Red Flash women's volleyball freshman secured 24 plus wins since 2001.
Maggie Hogan and
Allison Murray put up a combined 29 kills and
Emma Fenton recorded a new career high of 57 assists in the team's victory over the Dukes.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's tournament, the Red Flash will continue on the road to Georgia Southern on Sept. 16-17 for the last non-conference matches of the season.
